Video Game Voice Acting fails

[Dalisclock]

So, inspired by this and the inability for anyone in the cast to pronounce Origami properly, I was reminded of how annoying bad voice acting can be.


One in particular was an adventure game called "A New Beginning", where time travelers from a devastated future travel back to the 1980's to stop the events that lead to their world where a fraction of humanity remains. Unfortunately, the VA for the female lead, Faye, doesn't do a particularly good job at her lines. They come across as weirdly paced and stilted, so much that I initially assumed it had something to do with her being from centuries in the future where the remains of humanity live in a sealed bunker because the surface is uninhabitable.

The problem is that while it's fairly obvious most of the voice actors are not native English speakers, nobody else in the game(even the others who came with her from the bad future) don't speak in such nearly a weird manner. It also doesn't help that most of her lines are extremely condescending towards the people around her, so she comes across as either "Special" or just a massive jerk and extemely hard to empathize with her.

So what are your examples of bad voice acting that just made it difficult to enjoy a game?

 

[The Madman]

Look, I love Deus Ex and think it really is one of the most inventive and influential games ever made... but holy crap is the voice acting bad. I mean really, really, REALLY bad. And frankly while it's clear the devs were at least trying, the dialogue isn't that much better so you've got mediocre grade conspiracy cheese being spouted by some of the most bland and monotone voice acting to ever grace a game, all trying to be serious and tell a serious story rife with twists and turns and conspiracies to uncover.

It gets pretty bad sometimes.


Really freaking bad. Honestly the fact that I still think the game is fantastic in-spite of these very prominent problems just goes to show how strong much of the rest of the game was.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

The first Kingdom Hearts had a bit of an all star cast. One of the non all stars was Mandy Moore as Aerith. However she did a serviceable job. Enter Kingdom Hearts 2 where a bunch of those actors decided not to return and we're left with this abomination, courtesy of Mena Suvari.



Also, probably an unpopular opinion but Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: HR sounding like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman and Kaidan Alenko was almost unbearable to listen to.

 

[spartandude]

There are so many to choose from. There's the obvious things like Jill Sandwich in Resident Evil... or all of the original Resident Evil. There's that laugh from Final Fantasy. KotOR had "Lord Malek was most displeased...."

But my favourite ones have to be from Warhammer 40,000 Dawn Of War: Soulstorm.

Theres "Spehss Merehnss"


And the legendary so bad it's good.... Metal Bawkses

 

[Zhukov]

I give you the one and only Bolo Santosi.

Leedah of tha revolutonahry armee known as tha reepahs.


Although at least she didn't make me want to claw my own eardrums out, unlike the fucking helicopter pilot.

Can't find a good video of his voice though.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

[quote="

 

[Bad Jim]

At last, a thread I can win. Tomb Raider (1996).

This is from the era when "Jill Sandwich" was considered acceptable. Though that's more of a scriptwriting fail. But it's also a voice acting fail.

 

[DoPo]

So what are your examples of bad voice acting that just made it difficult to enjoy a game?

I simply must point at House of the Dead 2

Spoiler: short version

Spoiler: long version

It's...something. Definitely something.

I wouldn't really say it made it difficult to enjoy the game, though - I personally liked it because it was so bad it's good. The random NPCs are just...bizarre. The main character tries to emote. Harry doesn't. Amy's voice acting is the absolute BEST in the game, even if it's otherwise average. And Goldman? I don't know if his performance is terrible or intentionally terrible. It's something to behold, though.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Most of the games I played that had genuinely horrible voice acting I played back when I was really young and so didn't consciously pay much attention to. It wasn't until a few years ago (after not having played it for a really long time) that I realized Tenchu had really shit voice acting. Also, Onimusha. Never ruined the game for me though.

Recently, and I might piss off a few people with this, I found that Triss in The Witcher 3 sounded a bit off. Nothing terrible, but she just kind of sounds like a Hollywood starlette, not a witch in a medieval setting.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Peter Dinklage failed so hard with Destiny they had another guy come redo his dialogue after the game was already out.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Skyrim: there are a handful of pretty decent to good performances (most of the NPC's voiced by 'that guy who voiced Sinding', Laura Bailey's Serana, Ulfric, Sual Tigh), but overall the NPC's sound like they're lifted from some cheap kids cartoon.

Then there's the Nords... Are they Americans? Kinda-Scandinavians? A bit Germanic? You can sometimes be in a single room and hear all kinds of wacky accents coming that lot, and it stood out like a sore thumb the first time I played it. Bethesda never seemed interested in consistency, and so it hurts the world's sense of cohesion.

Also, probably an unpopular opinion but Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: HR sounding like a cross between Christian Bale's Batman and Kaidan Alenko was almost unbearable to listen to.

I'm actually going through it again on XB1, and I really like it, now more than ever; DE's world is as smart as it is goofy, so Jensen as the window through which we see/experience the world is spot on.

Look, I love Deus Ex and think it really is one of the most inventive and influential games ever made... but holy crap is the voice acting bad. I mean really, really, REALLY bad.

Do you think Invisible War improved things on that front? That was my first DE, and to this day I've still never finished the original because-- well, it hasn't aged well and I found the writing and voice acting surprisingly terrible. I've not played IW for years, either, but I never recall it being as bad as DE (HR probably has the best mix of writing and voice acting, but the story is very weak).

At last, a thread I can win. Tomb Raider (1996).

Wait... You seriously think that's bad? Larson's goofy, sure (TR's a goofy game), but Lara's voice acting is perfectly fine, then and now.

 

[Mikeybb]

Peter Dinklage failed so hard with Destiny they had another guy come redo his dialogue after the game was already out.

This was such a surprise to me when it happened.
Hearing he was involved led me to have high expectations but I guess either as on the part of the script or the different environment of voicework, he just couldn't summon up any passion for the project.
left me baffled given the quality of his performances elsewhere.

Perfectly understandable why they went with a different voice all things considered.

As to examples of terrible voice acting.

I've seen so many compilation videos and most of the crimes contained within harken back to the early days of cd based gaming.
One that will always stand out for me is this scene though.
Don't misunderstand me, I LOVE the shining force games, but this here is the perfect example of someone thinking "shit! we need a voice actor for the wizard... Ted the janitor! you've got a voice!".

I would have picked any scene with Tidus in but he wasn't badly voice acted as such, more that he was a floppy haired primal force of annoyance.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Skyrim: there are a handful of pretty decent to good performances (most of the NPC's voiced by 'that guy who voiced Sinding', Laura Bailey's Serana, Ulfric, Sual Tigh), but overall the NPC's sound like they're lifted from some cheap kids cartoon.

Did you know one of the NPC voices is the same guy who voiced Saddler in Resident Evil 4? I think it's actually the guy that is sitting next to you in the cart during the intro.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Did you know one of the NPC voices is the same guy who voiced Saddler in Resident Evil 4? I think it's actually the guy that is sitting next to you in the cart during the intro.

Never played Resi 4 (Code Veronica was the last one I played on Dreamcast), but was that guy the horse thief? 'Cause that poorly acted/scripted suicidal halfwit was not a good NPC to help introduce the player to Skyrim's world...

Ah, a quick wiki reveals it was Ralof. Also, waaaait, what? He's voiced by the same guy who plays/played Deckard Cain in Diablo? I suppose that shouldn't be surprising 'cause, y'know, voice acting, but it'll be weird if I ever play Skyrim again.

 

[MysticSlayer]

It's...something. Definitely something.

Were voice actors delivering those lines, or was it a text-to-speech program? At least in the first video, it sounded all text-to-speech.

Not that that justifies how bad it all was. I'm just curious.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I can't believe no one has mentioned the absolutely amazing voice acting of "Men of War"

OH NO, IT IS THE GORILLAS!!

LET'S CRAM!!

I CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY LIKE A COVARD!

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Just EVERYONE in BF4

"Recker.

Recker?

Recker!

REEEEECCCCCKKKKEEEERRRRRR!!!"

 

[Pyrian]

Look, I love Deus Ex and think it really is one of the most inventive and influential games ever made... but holy crap is the voice acting bad. I mean really, really, REALLY bad.

Do you think Invisible War improved things on that front? That was my first DE, and to this day I've still never finished the original because-- well, it hasn't aged well and I found the writing and voice acting surprisingly terrible. I've not played IW for years, either, but I never recall it being as bad as DE (HR probably has the best mix of writing and voice acting, but the story is very weak).

Both are very inconsistent, IMO. Of course I don't think DX1's voice acting is overall bad at all, despite having several standout weak points. (Everybody brings up the bomb thing, but what about when Sandra's voice changes completely in the middle of a conversation?) Invisible War, it's like, did they sell off their sound studio midway through production? And the "fellow student" characters are all awful, but that doesn't seem to be the actors' fault.

 

[GestaltEsper]

One I'll always remember is from DragonBall Xenoverse where for some bizarre reason they record a line for Trunks while the actor isn't using his Trunks voice. It's a pretty blatant difference too.

 

[DoPo]

It's...something. Definitely something.

Were voice actors delivering those lines, or was it a text-to-speech program? At least in the first video, it sounded all text-to-speech.

Not that that justifies how bad it all was. I'm just curious.

I don't actually know. I think it's a person. I don't know for a fact it was a person. I can't find credits for the game anywhere, so I can't even name check the VA, if listed.

It's really funny, though. My main reason for thinking it's not text to speech is because I don't think there is a letter combination that would produce the unique "loioif" sound that Goldman uses when he says "life-cycle". Or "emeryoyr". Those are approximations, of course, as I said, I don't think they even have textual representations.